


Three Wise Guys

by thelaughinghermit



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Christmas, Messiah, Resurrected Gabriel (Supernatural), Resurrection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-08
Updated: 2017-12-08
Packaged: 2019-02-12 04:59:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12951822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thelaughinghermit/pseuds/thelaughinghermit
Summary: Gabriel's resurrected for a mission from God. He enlists the help of Castiel and the Winchesters.There's a new messiah about to be born and Adam shows up.





	Three Wise Guys

**Author's Note:**

> So here's a fic about how Gabriel could be resurrected and it's kind of a Christmas story.  
> There's some Easter eggs for American Gods by Neil Gaiman.

It was dark and warm and quiet. 

Gabriel lay in the silent stillness, completely content. He hummed hymms of old, songs long forgotten; things never heard by the human ear. He did this not from boredom, not for comfort, but because he could. It had been a long time since he could sing in his true tongue without a fear of being overheard. The darkness was comforting and peaceful. He had not felt like this since before the first war, possibly before many of his younger siblings had been born. 

He didn't know how long he lay in the dark, but he began to feel something. It was like an itch near where his ear would have been in a physical form. This was strange, since he had no form and there was nothing in the blanket of quiet that could have made him itch. The sensation grew. Gabriel began to find that he longed for a physical form so he could bat the irritation away, like a fly on a hot summer day. 

He fought a small battle within himself as he tried to decide between continuing to ignore the situation or trying to do something about it. As he argued with himself the sensation grew stronger and stronger until he finally gave up in frustration and threw his conscious towards the annoying gnat. 

As he listened, the buzzing turned into words:

"Gabe? Gabriel? It's time to wake up." The voice said kindly, like a guardian trying to wake a tired child. 

"Nope! Nope, I am here and it is quiet and I will not be moved. " he grumbled back. 

"Gabe?" The voice continued softly "It's time to get up now my son. There are things you must do."

"Dad?" Gabriel asked in awe. His eyes snapped open and he took a breath like a drowning man breaking the surface of the ocean. 

He blinked and got his bearings. He was in the physical plane. The ache in his bones made him sure if that. He sat up and leaned against the form of an old oak tree as he tested his limbs and stretched his wings. It seemed that Dad had at least graced him with his old vessel.

When he was confident that everything was as it should be, he stood on shaky legs and observed his surroundings. The oak tree he had used for leverage was very old. He was on a windswept plain, with the oak tree the only structure for what seemed to be miles. He was far from humans and their disruptive nature. Gabriel let his power flow and flew to the top of the oak tree. He saw miles and miles of brown grass and a small River. There was a small outpost of buildings which might indicate a town. He decided to go for it. 

He used some of his grace to wipe the dirt off of his body. Apparently, the Winchesters had buried him with full hunter honors. He was able to admit to himself that he was shocked and a little pleased that he had rated so high in their book. From the looks of things, the idiots had succeeded in stopping the apocalypse. 

Well, at least his sacrifice hadn't been in vain. 

But now, he was back. The question was why.

As he sprung down from his perch and glided to the ground on silent wings he started to walk towards the tiny patch of civilization. It was nice to stretch his legs after being in the ground and, well, dead, for so long. 

As he got close, he noted that all of the signs were in English. Well, that pointed him to which half of the world he was in. If he had been in an Eastern Europe, there would have been Cyrillic letters everywhere. From the climate, he guessed he was in Southern Canada or the Northern United States.

He pushed open the door to the dingy, gray gas station and walked over to where the newspapers were stacked. The price at the top was in U.S. Dollars so he used his grace to make enough cash to cover the paper and a couple of candy bars. His Father may have brought him back, but he was still pagan enough to crave sugar. 

He walked out and sprawled on the stoop. He opened the Kit Kat bar he had gotten, broke off a piece, and turned to lean against the post that held the gray porch up. Chewing the candy slowly, he opened the paper. 

From the stories in the paper, he was in Northern Oregon near the border with Washington. The town he was in, if he could call it a town, was Umapine. After a quick peruse of the paper, he snapped it shut and started walking. The small town news rag hadn't given him any insight into why he was resurrected or why he had landed here in his first day back in the world. Gabriel supposed his Father would point him in the right direction, since the jerk had woken him up in the first place. 

As he prepares himself for the long boring trek to real civilization a pick up truck blew past him kicking up dust, causing Gabriel to sputter. He may be an archangel, but he was still prone to coughing when he used his lungs. 

"Darnell! You stop this truck now!" He heard a woman's voice proclaim shrilly out the open window of the blue truck. "You got dust all over that poor man! We should offer him a lift" she continued as the truck rattled to a stop about twenty yards ahead of him. Gabriel grinned to himself. Dad did provide. 

"Thanks ma'am." He said walking up to the passenger door of the pickup.  
He started beating the dust from his clothes as he approached her. She was a middle aged sun worn woman with blonde hair and dark kind eyes. Her tanned cheeks crinkled up into a smile as she took him in.

"Well," she began in her Midwestern twang "we couldn't just leave ya. It wouldn't be Christian." She nodded empathetically to herself and Gabriel grinned. "Do pardon my son here," she said jerking her thumb towards the driver to indicate the boy, "we've been driving a while and I don't think he was paying much attention." 

The boy, who had the same coloring as his mother, but a much squarer face, waved sheepishly. 

"Sorry sir." He said in a rough drawl

"No worries shortstop." He said kindly, smiling at the hulking teen in the driver's seat. "A ride would be much obliged." He said turning to the woman in the passengers seat. 

She smiled back and said "Hop on in! Where are you headed stranger?" 

"South." he said quickly as he looked which was the truck was pointed. "I'm Gabe" he said reaching up to shake the woman's tanned, wrinkled hand. She indicated the backseat and he clambered into the tall blue truck. 

"Well, I'm Molly and this is my son Darnell." She said gesturing to her son who was stooping to turn the car back on. As it puttered to life, he glanced up in the rearview mirror and waved. 

Gabriel chuckled and grinned back. 

"Now what's for you so far north, Gabe?" Molly asked conversationally. She picked at her long dark pink nails as she asked. 

"Oh, headed home." He said leaning his arm on the windowsill and looking out at the farms that flew by. "I got a bit stuck, so I'm making my way back as I can, often with the kindness of strangers." He said, turning a bit to look at Molly's back. 

"Well, I am glad we were driving by then." she said nodding "We're headed to Portland. Darnell got into Portland State!" She said, reaching over to lightly ruffle the boy's dark blond hair. He turned a little pink and mumbled under his breath at her attention. He did still seem pleased at it though. 

"Well," Molly continued after her burst of motherly pride, "You let us know where along the way you want to get dropped off." 

"Portland is fine," Gabriel said in a breezy voice as he leaned back in the seat and got comfy. "I can grab a bus or something from there." 

Gabriel and Molly chatted back and forth for a few hours as Darnell drove. 

"So you said you were from Colville," Gabriel said to mother and son. "That's eight hours! What made you apply somewhere so far from home?" He asked, directing the last part of the question to Darnell.

Darnell spluttered a bit and turned pink. His mother swooped in to answer. 

"Well, Darnell's father and grandfather went to Portland State so he's a legacy." Darnell flushed further. 

"We're hoping they'll give him a scholarship for it. It'll make paying for school possible." She said absently, reaching over to stroke his hair again.

"Dad gone?" Gabriel asked, internally wincing at how sharp he sounded. 

Molly snorted. "Run off and of no use to anyone." She said grimacing. 

Gabriel gave her reflection in the rearview mirror a wry smile. 

"I know a thing or two about deadbeat dads." He said tilting his head and raising an eyebrow. 

"How'd your momma take it? " Molly asked, half turning in her seat to look at him.

Gabriel huffed a laugh and turned away from the window to face her better.

"Mom's been gone longer than Dad. I barely remember her." He said, looking out the far window a bit wistfully. "There was a falling out, I think. Dad sent her away and he just took care of all of us. I've got a lot of brothers and sisters," he said glancing at Molly, who's face was fully of sympathy. 

"And, well, after Dad left, my older brothers, Mikey and Lu," he paused, consciously not finishing his second oldest brother's name, "looked after the rest of us." He finished, fudging the truth a little. 

"They started to fight all the time," and there was Dad's honest truth. "I couldn't take it anymore, so I left." He finished with a shrug. He glanced out the far window once more. He crossed his arms and shrugged again saying "So here I am. I've been wandering ever since. I went to Europe for a bit, meandered that continent for a while. Came back to the U.S. Had some jobs in the East Coast. Made my way back here. " 

"You said you were headed home, does that mean you're going to see your family?" Darnell piped up from the driver's seat. 

"Yeah," Gabriel said quietly, "I got a message from Dad asking me to come home. maybe it's dumb of me, but I'm going." he finished in a firm voice.  
"You go and you give him hell, sweetie." Molly said with a firm nod of her head and a smile. He smiled back.

For the rest of the trip, they stuck to lighter topics. As they pulled up in front of the bookstore, Gabriel was able to convince them to join him for something to eat at Chipotles. His treat, of course. After he waved goodbye and turned a corner, he popped into the financial aid office and flicked his hand over the desk full of paperwork to create an full ride scholarship offer for Darnell. It was the least he could do. 

After leaving the office, he paused and looked around campus. On a whim, he headed into the library. He liked the look of the curved glass building. It was ostentatious and modern in the best way. Entering the building shook the dark cobwebs of his own ancientness away. He walked up to the main circulation desk and handed over a brand new fake student ID that proclaimed him a graduate student. The young, dark, curly hair librarian glanced at it, then at him, and handed the card back.

"Is this your first time at the PSU main library?" She asked sweetly

"It is! Am I that obvious?" he asked faux-sheepish.

"Just a little bit," she said grinning. "Well then, here's a map and the computer login instructions." She said handing him a sheet of paper covered in colorful diagrams. 

"Thanks!" he said with a little wave as he walked away. 

Once he was out of her sight he snapped a strawberry lollipop into his mouth and looked over the map. After reading over the call number chart, he headed to the basement. There was a quiet work area with a bank of computers he could use to check the news. Plus, that was where the mythology and occult section was. He always enjoyed reading what the humans wrote about him. There were those new Marvel movies with him in it. It might have inspired some new books. With giddy steps, he decended to the basement. 

To get to the wall of computers, he had to walk between some dusty shelves. As he reached the end of the first row, his eyes were drawn to a book on the second to top shelf. Knowing that his Father liked to meddle, he went with his gut and got up on tippy goes to reach the book. As he came back down and absent-mindedly tugged his shirt back into place, he flipped over the book he had to read the back. Instead of a synopsis or even some quotes about how great the book was, the back was blank. 

He rolled his lollipop around in his mouth as he stared at it. Now that he thought about it, the book was weird for other reasons too. Unlike most books in any library in the world, this one did not have a plastic jacket to protect it, or a call number on the side. He flipped the book back over. The wasn't a title on the cover either. He opened the first page of the palm sized book. In plain type, the title read 'The History of Native American Religion'. 

"What a boring sounding book." Gabriel muttered to himself as he began to flip through the pages. The book was thin, no larger than a pocket bible that only had the four parts of the new testaments that the Catholics had approved. He humphed to himself as he read the first few pages. Catholics were very unoriginal and hadn't included any of the juicy stuff. Gabriel remembered when Yeshua was a kid. He got himself into all kinds of trouble. Gabriel couldn't help a fond smile as he thought of his (much) younger half brother. He paused in his reading to think. He hadn't thought of the kid or his mom for years. Miryam had been a little spitfire and devoted in her faith. She had been fun to work with and watch over. She was the only one who had a will strong enough to keep the Christ child in line. 

He shook his head. That was the past and this was the present. He had been guided to this book at this time to find out what the heck he had to do. He turned the next page and continued skimming. A few pages later, his path was revealed. 

He went to a quiet, sunny glade in Alaska to make contact. This was a difficult entity to reach, so Gabriel needed the silence and serenity to reach for it. It had many names, and many ways to call for it, but there was no guarantee that it would answer. It took faith and force of will. But Gabriel was clever and willful and one of the first sons of He who is the great I am. 

He decided on a small altar to make his request. He gathered bones and detrius and shiny rocks to build with. He made a small table and lay one of his primary feathers on it. He cast his mind about to find a strong summons. He decided on a song. Some beings had preferred methods to be called on, but this being chose to appear based on who called and why. So Gabriel, archangel of communication and the muses, reached out in the way that he knew best.  
He sang many songs at once. He sang modern sings, he sang hymns, he sang old and forgotten songs, and songs that had barely made it down on paper. When he felt he had sung enough he opened his eyes and there was the one he sought in front of him. 

It was suddenly dark and they were both seated cross legged near a low burning fire which had taken the place of the altar. Gabriel could not see into the shadows beyond the circle of light the fire cast. This was unusual; as an archangel, Gabriel could see much of what was hidden. He decided he must be in the Underneath; a realm below the Earth where monsters and other strange beings dwelled. 

The other God had the body of a man and the head of a buffalo. He was an old god, one who no longer had a name and as such, he was not worshipped any longer. He stayed because he was old and tied to the land. He knew this place better than anyone else. 

"Ummm, hi?" Gabriel asked. He winced as he said it. He sounded like a fledgling on his first assignment when he had asked. This God was simply intimidating. 

The old god tilted his buffalo head. Gabriel forged ahead

"You have been a guardian of these lands for a long time," He said sounding braver than he felt "Have you seen why my Father needed me back?" 

"Why do you ask me, and not your father?" Asked the buffalo headed man without moving his mouth. The dark pupils stared through Gabriel as he asked this. 

"My Father is not in the habit of answering," Gabriel said trying to tamp down on his bitterness. 

Those dark eyes continued to stare. The old god snorted, blowing steam from his wet nostrils.  
"I guess he's busy," Gabriel said, trying to deflect

"I am busy too, yet you have asked me here." The elder said; Gabriel thought he detected amusement in his voice. Though, it was very hard to tell on an expressionless face. 

"But," the buffalo headed man said as he shifted into a more comfortable sitting position, "You have asked in faith and so I shall help you." He spread his arms wide and closed his eyes.

Gabriel waited, hunched over his knees. It could have been minutes, it could have been hours, it could have been days. Time did not exist in the darkness around the fire. 

"A child will be born," the dark God said opening his eyes. He lowered his arms and stared at Gabriel, like the angel should know what that meant. 

"A child will be born." Gabriel repeated disbelieving. "What does that mean? That happens all the time!" He half yelled, waving his arms in the air. 

The buffalo headed God blinked at him. 

"That's all I'm getting. A child will be born!" He gripped his hair and looked down. 

The other nodded. "This is what he had done."

"Wait," Gabriel said, perking up "what He-" he startled

The old god was gone and Gabriel was back in the glade next to his altar. The feather was gone. He knew it was futile, but he threw his head from side to side to try to get a glimpse of the other. There were no signs anyone else had ever been with him. He dropped his head into his hands and sighed. 

A child will be born. A child will be born. A -child- will be born. He repeated it over and over in his head until it was nonsense. He knew that this was what he had to know. Deep in his bones, he was sure that this was his purpose back in the physical plane. 

A child will be born.

Suddenly, it clicked. 

He threw his head back to stare at the rapidly darkening sky. 

"What the fuck, Dad?!"

Meanwhile in South Central Los Angeles, Maria Hernandez Del Toro is having a bad day. 

She stared at the piece of plastic in her hand that spelled the end of life as she knew it and she cried. She put the hand that was not holding the offensive item to her eyes. 

Pregnant. She was pregnant. How was she going to tell her family? They had so many hopes and dreams for her. Her parents, Ana and Joaquin, had come to the U.S. from Guatemala to escape crushing poverty and make a better life for her. She was supposed to be the first to go to a U.S. college. Now that wasn't going to happen. Not with a baby to take care of. Oh god, she only had a month left of high school! She had almost been free and clear!

She had never even had sex with anyone! She hadn't gone to any parties and got black out drunk either! She usually only went out to study, or grab coffee, or hang out with friends! There were no parties! There was no way for this to be happening. 

Oh no. What was she going to tell her girlfriend? 'Hey Josie, I know we're both girls, but I'm pregnant, let's raise it together!'

Oh god, it sounded dumb in her head. She sunk down onto the white tiled floor and curled up next to the shower and sobbed. She didn't know how long she lay there in her misery when a bright light appeared next to her in the tiny bathroom.

A short blond guy in a green coat appeared next to her, half crouching in the tub. 

"Be not afraid." He said in a gentle voice, his brown eyes soft. 

Maria screamed and scrambled backwards and then threw the heavy steel garbage bin at his head.

It connected, but the man didn't flinch. 

"Wow," he said looking down at the silver colored can that was rolling around the beige tub. "That was a first. People usually grovel and beg when that happens, but hey. Kudos to you for trying something else." He said with a shrug, digging into his pocket for a lollipop. 

"Want one?" He asked, holding out a bubblegum dum dum.

Bubblegum was her favorite, but she shook her head in a firm no, unwilling to trust this stranger who popped into her bathroom. 

The blond stranger shrugged again and unwrapped the red one he was also holding in his hand. He put the bright pink one back in the chest pocket of his olive drab jacket from whence it had appeared. He put the red one in his mouth and rolled it from one cheek to the other. 

He cleared his throat and said "Well, as I was saying: Be not afraid." The lollipop was crunched down on and consumed. He clicked his fingers and the white stick disappeared. The man's voice began to quake with unearthly power. "I come at the bidding of one who is my Master-"

"Who the hell is that?" Maria snapped. "And for the record, who the hell are you?" She pursed her lips in frustration. 

"Augh, will you quit interrupting my spiel?" He snapped, his face twisting up into a grimace. He rolled his shoulders and took a deep breath. "Look, I know this is tough." He ran a hand through his blond hair. He sighed and looked into her eyes. "My name is Gabriel. I am the Messenger of God." 

Maria stared. The short guy in front of her didn't look like an angel. They were supposed to be tall and beautiful and this guy was short and tired and stressed looking. But he stared at her with a steady confidence that was impossible to fake. At the very least, he thought he was an angel. And, he did suddenly appear in the bathroom. Even if he wasn't an angel, he was something. 

"Okay," she said cautiously. "let's say I believe you."

"As you should." The 'angel' said breezily. 

"What's the message?" She asked simply, ignoring his earlier interjection. 

Gabriel sat on the edge of the tub and interlocked his fingers in front of him. He hunched over to look at her from where she still lay on the tiled floor. He looked like a man about to pray. 

"The message is this: you're pregnant and it will be the next Messiah."

"No." she said, disbelieving. 

"Yes." He said mildly. He tilted his head and continued to look at her. It reminded her of a song bird. 

"No." she insisted. It wasn't possible. 

"Yes." He repeated. "Think about it. You've never had sex with anyone who could get you pregnant. You're responsible and strong in your faith." He said confidently. 

"Yeah, I guess," she said helplessly. "But I am bisexual as fuck. I am dating a lesbian. Doesn't God hate that or something?" She raised hand in a questioning gesture. 

Gabriel snorted and leaned back. He rested his hands on either side of himself on this lip of the tub as he said "That, is a common misconception. Why would God hate humans for something natural like attraction that he coded into them? He's a dick, but He's not an ass."

Maria gaped at him. "How can you say that!?" She asked slightly hysterical. "He's God, you're an angel! Shouldn't you be singing His praises or something?"

Gabriel's face split into a huge grin. He huffed another laugh and pulling a mystery flavored dum dum out of his seemingly endless breast pocket. He shook his heads, almost to himself, and continued to laugh quietly as he unwrapped the candy and stick it in his mouth. He rolled it from side to side a few times, still smiling a wry grin, before he clicked his tongue and looked at her again. 

"Yeah, he's God. And yeah, I'm an angel; an archangel to be specific." He said, gesturing to her with his lollipop. "But He's been absent a long time. An entire apocalypse almost went down without a peep from Him."

"There was an apocalypse!?" She asked, perplexed. 

"Almost." Gabriel said waving his red lollipop in the air. "It was dealt with and humanity survived." He said twirling it with a flourish before putting it back in his mouth. "But the point is that we hadn't heard from Him in almost Forever. And then, a few days ago, I woke up to Him saying he needed me for something and guiding me here. So this is a Big Deal." He said, emphasizing the last two words by putting his hands into brackets as he said them.

Maria sat up and pulled her knees to her chest. She had a stray, wild thought that soon she wouldn't be able to do this. She giggled helplessly. 

Gabriel got up from the edge of the tub and kneeled in front of her in a smooth motion. He put a hand on her shoulder and said in a soft voice "I know this is scary. I know it feels like its too big. But you aren't alone." He said with a small sad smile as he moved his hand to her chin to tilt it up so she looked at him. "I am here. I won't abandon you. You have your parents, your partner-"

Maria snorted. "Oh yeah, because they're going to be so accepting." 

Gabriel laughed humorlessly. "Well," he said, leaning back into his heels "There are ways to prove angels and all that exist. They'll believe, trust me." 

"What, like surprising someone by suddenly showing up in the tub? " she asked, trying to suppress a grin. 

He rubbed his chin between his thumb and forefinger and smiled ruefully at her. "Yes, I have other tricks is besides that."

They say in companionship silence for a few minutes. An idea came to her. 

"What if I got rid of it?" She said quietly. 

Gabriel tilted his head away from her with a thoughtful expression. After a moment he looked at her out of the corner of his eye. 

"You could." He said with a small shrug. "There's nothing stopping you. But I don't think you will."

She furrowed her brow. "Why not?" She said turning to look at him. 

"Because," He said turning to face her once more. "My Father loves his plans. He wouldn't have chosen someone who wouldn't be willing to put in the effort." 

She opened her mouth, paused, and closed it again. The angel had her there. 

"It's a shitty situation, and I'm not gonna tell you to have faith and to make the best of it." He put a hand on her shoulder again. "But if you're willing to go through with it, I'll be by your side every step of the way. It's probably going to be dangerous too. But you won't be unprotected." He finished grimly. 

"Dangerous?" she squeaked. 

He nodded. "Demons, pagan gods, other supernatural creatures would all love to get their hands on it. It would be a huge well of power, not to mention what they could achieve if they manage to shape the kid in their image." He shook her shoulder gently. "But don't worry too much. You have an archangel at your back. That's going to be a big deterrent right there. I may not be the strongest of my siblings, but I am the fastest. No one will get past me unchallenged."  
His eyes, which had been a honey brown now burned gold with his conviction and heavenly light. She believed him.

Suddenly, she heard a scuffling outside and the sounds of keys dropping. Quicker than Gabriel could blink, Maria was up and running past him to the front door. He cursed quietly to himself and went invisible to follow her. 

Maria slid to a stop in front of the dark blue door and unlocked the deadbolt to throw the door open. Standing there, blinking owlishly at her from behind of horn rimmed glasses, was her beautiful girlfriend clutching at her mess of keys. 

Maria smiled and let out a small huff. "You know, I have you that colored key cap so you could tell which was the one to my house, right Josie?" She said as she leaned against the door frame. 

Gabriel smiled to himself as he looked over the newcomer for demonic signs. He couldn't see any, and so he let her pass into the house unmolested. He decided that while the two young women chatted, he would lay down some wards and invisible traps so that no one could get in who wasn't meant there. He blinked out of existence in the hallways and into the driveway as the two kissed in greeting.

"I know!" The pale dark haired girl said as she stepped out of the embrace of the short, darker girl. Josie fumbled with her overfull messenger bag and her huge ring of keys. "I always know which key is yours, I just can't always get at it because this dumb key ring is so big." she said with a pout as she sat at the kitchen island and began pulling out notebooks.

"Why do you have so many keys, then?" Maria asked in a teasing tone as she pulled orange juice out of the fridge to pour for them both. 

Josie looked up with a deadpan expression. "You know why. Keys to my mom's house, my dad's house, the bakery, my car, your house..."

Maria giggled as Josie trailed off. This was nice. This was normal. 

After she had poured two glasses of juice into colorful plastic tumblers and set them in the island, she leaned across from Josie and lovingly watched her get her homework sorted. Josie glanced up at her and paused. 

"What is it?" She asked softly. "You look serious."

Maria felt a tangle of nerves erupt in her lower ribcage. She took a deep breath and straightened her spine. She knew that she had to tell Josie. She didn't want to, but she couldn't not tell Josie. This was her partner.

She sighed. "I'm pregnant, Jo." She said softly.

Josie snorted. "Yeah right Mar." She huffed another laugh. "We're girls. What was it, a divine conception?" She laughed some more. Maria but her lip stayed silent.

"Wait, no. No, no, no, no, no. You're not pregnant. There's no way you're pregnant." Josie said standing up.

"Baby," Maria said as she stood up and walked around the island.  
"No!" Josie said throwing her hands up and scooting away from her. "No way! Did you cheat on me?" She demanded, her voice going shrill from stress.

"What? No way!" Maria replied, bordering on shouting. 

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Gabriel shouted as he popped into existence in the kitchen. "What's going on here?" he asked, holding up placating hands. 

"Who the fuck are you!" Josie yelled, throwing a binder at his head. 

Gabriel ducked to the side and stared at the blue binder that we now spilling its contents all over the floor. 

"Wow you guys are really made for each other, aren't you?" he said smiling.  
"I am the archangel Gabriel." he said letting his voice infuse with heavenly sound.

"Yeah, and I'm Hephzibah. " she said with a snort as she put her hands on her hips. 

Gabriel smiled with a childish glee. "See, this is why I love the Jewish faith. You guys are resilient and you don't take shit from anyone."

Josie's hand flew to the unobtrusive Star of David she always wore. 

"You remind me of that Ya'qob." Gabriel continued, oblivious. "That guy was awesome. He got in a fist fight with Dad on one of the first nights He left Mike and Luci to babysit the rest of us. He came home covered in mud grinning from ear to ear, telling us about this puny human who bested Him in hand to hand combat."

Gabriel conjured up a slice of chocolate cake with rainbow sprinkles and a glass of milk as he settled into a chair in the island to finish his story. 

"The little fledglings thought it was great fun. Luci was disgusted. Mike was indifferent. I thought it was kind of cool one of those little weird little pink sacks of flesh managed to pin Him." He ate a big bite of cake. "I started to come down to visit after he told us about it."

Josie stared at him with an open mouth. As the silence stretched on and Gabriel continued to munch on his snack, Maria decided it was time to intervene. 

"So, yeah Jo. I, uh, am pregnant through divine intervention, and this is the Archangel Gabriel sent to watch over me."

Gabriel waved his fork in greeting at the still shell shocked Josie. She slowly blinked and raised a hand in greeting. 

"So what are you working on?" Gabriel asked as he flipped the textbook Josie had open in front of her. "Oooh. Geometry. I love geometry. " 

Josie turned her head to look at Maria. Maria just smiled helplessly and shrugged. Apparently her archangel guardian was also willing to help with homework. 

"Maria! Josie! Mijas! I'm home!" Ana Hernandez called as she kicked the front door closed a few hours later. 

"In the kitchen!" Maria hollered back. 

As she made her way to the kitchen, she could make out wonderful, delicious smells. 

"Mija! Are you cooking?" She said as she walked down the rest of the short hallway to the kitchen. She stopped short as she walked across the threshold. There was a strange short gringo in her kitchen cooking with a large skillet on her stove. 

"-and that's how you sautee spinach so it doesn't get gross and taste bland."  
The blond was saying to an eager looking Josie who was standing next to him peering into the pan. 

" Madre de Dios! Who are you? " Ana bellowed looking around for something to throw at the stranger.

The man clicked his fingers and all the items near her on the counter flew away from her as if possessed. "Uh, uh uh." the stranger said tapping the side of his nose. "I have had just about enough of things thrown at me." He grumbled. He shooed Josie away from the oven and took a roast chicken out of it. " Grab plates, would you Josie? "

The young woman rushed to complete her task. 

"I'm Gabriel," the stranger said in the tone of a confidant. "Here, fill your plate." he said as Josie came around to his side with a mismatched stack of ceramic dishes. 

Ana took the top plate and did as he bade. The chicken was fragrant and mouthwatering. The rice was fluffy and the sauteed spinach looked like something out of a magazine. Ana did not dare eat it. 

She took her full plate over to the kitchen table and sat down. There was a pitcher of ice tea waiting on the table with cups neatly stacked next to it. Maria set her plate down next to her with Josie on her girlfriend's other side. The stranger, who was apparently calls Gabriel, sat across from Maria at the round table, leaving the space across from Ana open. 

"Be not afraid, Ana Hernandez. All will be explained." Gabriel said with soft eyes. "And dig in! It's not poisoned. I promise!" he said, using his fork like a shovel to put food in his mouth. Ana glanced at the young women to her left. Maria met her eye, shrugged, and began to delicately cut up her chicken. Josie just slurrped her spinach. 

After gathering a small bite of chicken and rice, she put it in her mouth. Gabriel waggled his eyebrows at her. 

"Good, right?" He asked, grinning around the food in his mouth. 

She smiled tightly and nodded. This was apparently enough for Gabriel and who turned his attention back to his own food. 

Ana prayed that Joaquin would be home soon and would be able to save them. Who knows what this maniac had done to her precious girls!

About fifteen awkward minutes of trying to eat small bites and not be noticed later, Ana's prayers seemed answered. 

"Hey-lo!" Called her husband's deep baritone as he opened the front door.  
"Hello amor (love)! " Ana called before anyone else could get in a word edgewise. "Hay un extrano en la cocina (There is a stranger in the kitchen)!" She called lightly. Gabriel made no moves against her and hardly looked up from her meal. It seemed that her ruse had worked!

"Okay! " Joaquin called back, equally light. "I'll wash my hands and come sit down." He called heading up the stairs. Ana did her best to keep a calm facade. Soon this would be over. 

Hardly a minute later, Joaquin could be heard heading back down the stairs. 

"Smells amazing, baby!" He said as he walked through the archway that connected the kitchen to the living room. Ana blessed whoever was looking over her when Gabriel took the seat he had. He had his back to her husband who had a baseball bat over his head ready to swing. 

Gabriel raised a lazy hand and Joaquin flew across the kitchen to get pinned against the pantry door, his bat dropped during his flight. 

He made a choking noise. 

Both girls startled. "Papa!" Maria called 

"You know," Gabriel said conversationally, leaning over to Ana, "I usually get a lot more respect than this. This is the first time I've ever been threatened so much in one day by humans." He looked over at Maria and Josie and then back at Ana. He shrugged. "Oh well. If I ever have to do this again, I'll sound the trumpets and appear miraculously like I did last time."

He twitched his fingers and Joaquin collapsed to the ground. "The Spanish was a nice touch, though." He said as he stood up and walked over to grabbed Joaquin by the collar. Ana couldn't keep a small shriek from escaping her. 

Gabriel lifted the other man as if he weighed next to nothing and carried him across the kitchen. 

He deposited the taller man in his seat at the table and walked back to where he had been sitting and put his hands on the back of the chair. 

"Joaquin Del Toro. Ana Hernandez. Be not afraid." He said in a sonorous voice.

 

His eyes began to light up and the shadows in the room began to lengthen. Ana began to openly weep and Joaquin stared, mouth open, with a look of open despair on his face.

"I am the Archangel Gabriel, Messenger of God." He finished, three sets of shadow wings unfurling behind him. Ana fell out of her chair and began saying the Lord's prayer, while Joaquin slid to his knees in a more controlled fall and continued to gape. 

The wings went away and the short, slightly chubby man who appeared perfectly human stood rubbing his hands together. 

"See?" He said towards Maria and Josie who were staring at the two adults in exasperation. "This is the kind of response I'm used to!" He grinned at them. Maria sort of helplessly shrugged. 

"What," Joaquin started, voice rough. "What," he said in a clearer voice "message are you sending? Because, I don't get it. You were just in our house eating dinner." he finished bravely. Ana nodded and got up from her knees. 

"Hmm?" Gabriel said. He had sat back down in front of his place. "I already gave it to Maria and Josie-" he said breaking off suddenly to study each of their faces in turn. "Maria, Josie." He turned to stare at Ana and then Joaquin. "Ana and Joaquin." he huffed a laugh to himself. "Man, my Dad has a sick sense of humor." He said, digging into his plate. 

Joaquin's eyes opened wide and his cheeks paled. "Wait. Wait. If, if it's Maria and Josie, and Ana and, me. That means-!"

"Ding ding ding! Got it in one daddio!" Gabriel said, punctuating his response by pointing his fork in the air. 

Joaquin leaned back in his chair, his chin in his hand and looked between Maria and the archangel and didn't say a word. Gabriel continued eating cheerfully. Maria and Josie picked quietly at their food and glanced at each other. As the minutes ticked past and no one said a word, Ana became frustrated. 

"So what does it mean!?" She burst out, startling everyone at the table. 

Joaquin glanced from the angel to his wife with his hand still in his chin. He looked at Gabriel again who gave him a 'go ahead' gesture with his fork and continued eating. 

Her husband braced himself. His wife had never been particularly religious. 

"So, Saint Anne," he said pointing to her chest, "and Joachim" he said, touching his own chest "were the parents of Saint Mary," he nodded towards Maria, "the virgin mother of Jesus. She was married to Joseph." He said, finally nodding towards Josie, who gave Ana a weak wave. 

Ana stated at everyone. Gabriel rested his elbow on the table and his cheek on his chin. 

"No." Ana said.

"Uh, yes." Gabriel said. "Archangel and Messenger of God here. I announced the last kid too." He said, twirling his index finger around his own face. 

She sat back, looked down and her plate, and started eating. It made as much sense as anything else that had happened. 

"Ana?" Joaquin said, reaching for her hand. 

She shrugged helplessly and continued to eat. He sighed and got up to fill his own plate. After a few minutes of quiet only punctuated by the clinking of silverware, Josie spoke up. 

"Didn't you leave right after you told the Virgin Mary the last time around?" She asked with her cup of ice tea in her hand, poised to take a drink.

"You're right." Gabriel said almost ardently with a nod of his head. 

"So why are you doing it this time?" she asked, taking a sip. 

Gabriel sighed and set down his silverware. "Long ago, when the last messiah was still in utero, things were a lot different. A lot has happened in the last few years and," he paused and rubbed his hands in his lap. He looked down. "And there aren't as many of us as there used to be. I mentioned the apocalypse." he said looking up and nodding towards Maria. She nodded back.

"Both sides lost a lot of people before it was done. So last time, I was able to make my announcement and walk away and do my other duties. there were plenty of seraphs and other angels to look after them. But there aren't this time. Dad didn't ask me to watch over you," he said, staring at Maria, "but I'm going to. I won't leave you undefended." He sighed and rolled his shoulders back. "Besides," he continued in a lighter tone, "that's my half brother or sister you're carrying. I've gotta look after them too." He finished with a wink.

Maria looked a bit dazed as he finished and Josie grabbed her hand. When Maria looked over at her, she squeezed it and gave her now pregnant partner a watery smile. They'd get through it together. 

They finished eating and Gabriel clicked his fingers to clean the dishes.

"Well that's handy." Ana murmured as the dishes disappeared and reappeared in the cabinets. 

"Don't get used to it," Gabriel rumbled. "I am a fearsome warrior of God. I'm not a maid. "But," he conceded. "Today was stressful and it would have been rude of me to leave them." 

He looked out the kitchen window to the back yard. Josie was calling her dad, letting him know that she was staying the night at Maria's(per usual), when Ana realized something. 

"Where are you going to sleep?" She asked, half to herself. He turned to look at her as she said "I'll get some of the spare blankets and make up the couch for you -" She began to walk away when he gently touched her wrist. 

"I'm an archangel. I don't need to sleep." He said kindly. "But thank you for the offer." He

She blushed. Of course they don't sleep. She shook her headed and headed to her bedroom. She looked at her husband as he changed into pyjama pants. He caught her looking and laughed. So she started laughing. They fell into gales of laughter and collapsed onto the bed. When they calmed down, they looked into each other's eyes, silently affirming their lives for each other and their love for their children. 

"We'll look after them." Joaquin said gently. Ana nodded, rested her head on his chest , and let herself drift off. 

The rest of the school year passed by uneventfully. Both Ana and Josie won a slew of academic and artist awards between them and aced all of their finals. No one noticed the strange blond man who whooped extra loudly when they both received their diplomas. No one also noticed when he stabbed two black eyed men hanging out in the back of the arena. No one heard him whisper to the trembling third member of the group to run back to his master. 

"I am guarding them. You and your ilk will never touch them. Pass on these words and I will let you see another sunset." 

The demon nodded shakily and smoked out of the PTA mom it had been inhabiting. 

Gabriel helped the woman back to her feet and murmured that it was so hot in this auditorium and that she should get some water in her ear as he brushed past her. They suggestion took hold and as she went off to grab a bottle of water, no one was the wiser. 

When the sticky heat of late July began to set in, the attacks increased. Even the lowliest ghost could smell the power that Maria was carrying inside her. Though the house was well warded, that didn't mean that monsters like ghouls couldn't get in, so Gabriel preferred to stay with Maria through most of the day. 

This plan proved ineffective in early August when a demon grabbed Josie and tried to hitch a ride inside her to the house. Thankfully, Gabriel was back at his old strength and could smell it coming a mile away. He exorcised and banished it and made everyone sit down in the living room.

"Okay," he said handing Josie a huge chocolate milk shake with lots of sprinkles and whipped cream. "Drink that," he said pointing to the decadent concoction. "you'll feel better. Demonic possessions can be rough." 

She began to slurp it as he went to stand in between the two light green couches. 

"Okay," he said, running his fingers through his hair, pushing it away from his face. "I may be an almost all powerful archangel, but even I can't be in multiple places at once. We're going to need back up." he said. He began to pace, twirling his long hair through his fingers as he thought. 

"I thought you said most of the angels were gone?" Joaquin asked leaning forward and steepling his fingers. 

"A lot of them are." Gabriel said, pointing a finger in the air as he continued to pace. "But there a few left." He considered his options.

He searched his grace to see which of his siblings still lived. He brushed feelers over each sibling that was left, moving quickly so they wouldn't notice him there. As he brushed over one who was currently earthbound, he felt the other's grace twist up around his feeler and hold tight. 

No. No, it couldn't be. This brother of all of his brothers and sisters couldn't still be alive. Gabriel tugged and the seraph came to him. 

In a kitchen deep under the ground a blond hunter turned around from the stove he was cooking at when he heard the pop of an angel disappearing. 

He frowned. "Cas?"

When the angel didn't answer, the hunter shrugged and said "Weirdo."

In the Hernandez Del Toro household, a dark haired, bedraggled looking man in rumpled white button down shirt and a loose blue the appeared. He stared at Gabriel for a few disconcerting moments before he staggered forward with his arms open. Gabriel smiled and pulled the other tight to his chest when he was close enough. The dark haired man (angel?) tucked his head into Gabriel's shoulder and shuddered, pulling his closer. They stayed like that for a minute longer. 

"Gabriel." The newcomer rasped, his voice raw and full of emotion as he pulled his face from Gabriel's shoulder, not letting go completely. "We thought you were dead."

Gabriel moved his hand from the taller man's shoulder to cup his face, covering from his ear down to his chin. It was an almost paternal or brotherly gesture, intimate to the point that the humans felt they had to look away. 

"I was, baby bro. But Dad needed me for a job, so I'm back." He patted his brother's face.

"Father brought you back, He spoke to you?" The other angel asked, his grip tightening. 

" Yeah, but just for a minute, Castiel. " he said, breaking their embrace. "He told me He needed me to wake up, and that was it. Don't get your feathers in too much of a fluff." 

"Hmm." Castiel grunted. 

"I need your help, little bro." Gabriel said seriously.

"Anything." Castiel agreed, equally serious. 

Gabriel sighed and nodded. 

"This is the mother of the next Messiah," he said, sweeping his hand towards Maria. "And this is her family." He finished moving his hand towards the rest of them, completing his grand gesture. 

Castiel's brow furrowed. "You would trust me with this? " he asked softly, his voice full of wonder. 

"Cassie, there's no one I trust more." Gabriel said, putting a hand on his brother's shoulder while smiling. Castiel seemed close to tears. 

"Umm, I'm Josie." The dark haired girl introduced herself sticking out her hand towards Castiel. He stared at it like it was going to bite him. "Girlfriend of the mother of the messiah. " 

Castiel considered her a moment, then reached out to firmly grasp her hand and shake it once.

"Castiel. Angel of the Lord." He held her hand a moment longer and then let go. He got a considering look on his face. "Josie, Joseph, Josephine?" He said looking towards Gabriel, who raised his eyebrows, unimpressed. Castiel shook his head. "Father had a strange sense of humor." He said. 

Gabriel huffed a laugh and shook his head as well. 

Castiel and Gabriel headed towards the kitchen to go over their plans. Gabriel conjured up a map of the surrounding area and blue prints of the house and yard. He waved his hand over both and all of the protective symbols he added to the house and surrounding area appeared. Another wave marked all of the attacks that had happened in red X's with the most recent attack where Josie was possessed while at her job in the bakery was circled. 

"So this is where we're at Castiel." Gabriel said with a sigh as flopped down in one of the wooden kitchen chairs with a hand to his brow. 

Castiel frowned and poked at the papers. He stared long and hard, tapping his chin and tilting his head. He walked a slow circle around the table without taking his eyes off of it. 

After a few more minutes he looked up at Gabriel who had started to watch him intently. 

"We need more people." Was Castiel's grave analysis. 

Gabriel sighed and leaned back in the chair with his head tipped over the back of it. 

"I was hoping you weren't going to say that." He heaved himself out of the chair and went to stand next to his brother. He combed his hair back from his face. "Castiel, you are out best tactician. If you say it, I believe you." Castiel flushed lightly. "But where the hell are we going to get them from? At least half of our siblings are gone, a bunch of the ones that are left are lower choirs like Cherubs who won't be any good in a fight, and I don't know who we can trust out of the rest. Didn't Raph go semi-nuclear or something and try to restart the apocalypse? " Gabriel said, turning to look at Castiel who was suddenly very interested in the ceiling. "Cas?" 

Castiel coughed. "He did. It was taken care of." He said shortly. 

"Taken care of?" Gabriel echoed faintly. "Who took 'care' of the last archangel standing?"

"I did." Castiel said, finally looking him in the eye. "It worked, but there was a terrible cost. I made a lot of mistakes." he finished quietly, looking down shame faced.

Gabriel out his hand on Castiel's shoulder. 

"Cas, of course you made mistakes." Gabriel said kindly. Castiel flinched. Gabriel forged ahead. "You're a seraph, Cas. You weren't meant to lead the whole Garrison. You were never expected to have to make those kind of decisions, so you weren't prepared for them." Gabriel gently pressed his fist into his brother's chest with a small smile. "That was an oversight by management, let me tell you." Castiel gave a small laugh and laid his head of Gabriel's shoulder. 

They sat in silence a few moments. 

"We should call the Winchesters." Castiel said from his position in Gabriel's shoulder. Gabriel laughed. 

"Yeah, I guess." He shook his head. "Those two are more indestructible than anyone else we know." He said magnanimously.

Castiel laughed out a full chuckle. "I suppose so." 

They parted and Gabriel smiled at his little brother and clicked his fingers. 

Sam and Dean Winchester, hunters extraordinaire, appeared in front of them. Both brothers wheeled around in shock at their sudden change in location and turned to look at each other, and then at the angels at the table.

"What the hell, Cas?" Dean said with an exasperated look.

Sam however, blinked several times and stared at Gabriel. Dean looked ready to wind himself up into a rant when Sam said

"Gabriel? Is that really you?"

" Yup! " Gabriel daid, popping the P on the end. "In the flesh and the feathers." 

He looked at Dean. "Still only have eyes for your boyfriend, huh?"

Dean just huffed and crossed his arms. 

"Wow. He's not even denying it anymore." Gabriel said to Sam in mock amazement. 

"You have no idea." Sam muttered back.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Dean said. "Look Cas, are you even sure this is Gabriel? He was pretty dead the last time we saw him. We buried his for Christ's sake!" he said, pointing said an accusing finger at Gabriel.

"Dean!" Castiel started reproachfully

"Deano!" Gabriel interrupted. "I can't believe you think so little of me! As if I was going to stay dead. I do appreciate the hunters honors for my burial though." He said. He conjured himself an Almond Joy. "Besides," he said, waving his candy bar in a blase way. "Dad needed me for something, so He brought me back. He does kind of have the power of life and death." He finished, and unwrapped his candy, taking a bite. 

"I can tell it's Gabriel." Castiel said urgently. "I know his grace."

Dean still looked unimpressed. 

"You would know Sam anywhere," Castiel pointed out. "I would know my brother anywhere."

Dean looked at him another long moment and relented. Sam smiled.

"Of course he knows me anywhere, Deano!" Gabriel said cheerfully, throwing his arm around Castiel's shoulder. "I was the one who taught him how to fly when he was just a little fledgling! That's not the kind of bond you forget." 

Castiel smiled at him.

Dean huffed. "Enough chick flick stuff." He grumbled. "What did you nab us for?" 

Gabriel brought them up to speed. 

Sam collapsed into a chair, his long limbs sprawled everywhere. Dean continued to stand and continued to be unimpressed. 

"The next messiah?" He asked blankly. 

Dean twisted his mouth in an unhappy line. "Is this going to be like that anti Christ kid, Jesse? The one who went to Australia?" He demanded

"No. The cambion child was the son of a demon." Castiel said gravely. "This child will be the child of God. Much stronger. Much more powerful." 

"That's an understatement." Gabriel said, slapping a hand on his thigh. "When Yeshua was a peanut, some guy criticized Yosef's table making skills and the kid blinded the guy so he wouldn't have to look at it again." 

At Sam and Dean's perplexed looks he continued. 

"Yeah, awesome cosmic powers, mind of a little kid controlling it. It'll be great fun once the kid is born."

"Well that's just great!" Dean said throwing his hands up in the air. "We barely survived the last superpowered kid!"

"You won't have to worry about it." Gabriel said waving a hand dismissively.

"The kid will be strong enough to deter any threats at that point and we won't be needed anymore. They only reason we need to be here now is because it's a little ball of cells and can't do anything yet."

"Okay, great!" Sam said, slapping his giant bear paw hands together. "Let's meet them."

After Ana and Joaquin had another heart attack about more new people suddenly showing up in their house, they were gracious hosts. After serving the brothers lemonade, they all sat down to discuss logistics. About half an hour later as Dean, Sam, and Castiel argued about the best way to keep the humans safe when they went into town, Maria and Josie came down the stairs. 

They stood silently on the steps as Dean, Sam, and Castiel stood to head back to their bunker to gather supplies and take stock of what they had. 

Gabriel went to stand near the girls on the staircase and said "Well, I got you girls an angel from the east and two wise guys. Sorry, the didn't have any wise men left available." He said with a toothy grin.

Josie pursed her lips in thought. "Weren't there three wise men?" She asked thoughtfully. 

Gabriel grinned for a moment and opened his mouth.

"Actually, that is a common misconception. They number of wise men were not specified in the bible.The types of gifts they had were described and everyone assumed that one person brought each type." Castiel said as he walked past to deposit a barrel of holy water in the kitchen. Gabriel smirked at his brother, then grinned at the girls.

"He's right, but three wise guys sounds better than two." Maria gave him an unimpressed look and rubbed her belly.

"What?" He said, spreading his arms out in a questioning gesture. "It'll fit Dad's whole 'ironic, history repeats itself' thing!" He said in a breezy voice. 

Maria shrugged. "Got me there." She said and went to sit on the couch and turn on the TV. Josie went into the kitchen to cut up fruit. Castiel edged past her as he went back to the living room to talk to Gabriel. 

"The Winchesters think they have everything we will need to protect this home." Castiel said in a low voice.  
"Good!" Gabriel said, slapping his brother in the shoulder. "You stay here with the family for now. I have an errand to run."

"An errand?" Castiel asked skeptically. He sighed. "Very well. I will wait here." 

Gabriel smiled and watched as his brother took out his phone to call the Winchesters, most likely Dean. He laughed to himself. It was still hilarious to see his stoic brother using modern technology.

He rolled his shoulders. It was time to get serious. He flew to Wyoming, to the old Devils Gate that was protected by Samuel Colt's devil trap. He landed just outside the Fossil Butte Cemetery in the edge of the holy ground. He took a deep breath through his nose and let it out slowly from his mouth. He smelled the loam of the springy grass in height of summer.

He was an archangel. One of the oldest sons of He who is I Am. He was brave and strong and fast. 

He took out his archangel blade and began to stride through the cemetery to the grave of Samuel Colt. He did not need The Colt as a mortal would to open the gate. In fact, The Colt had unlocked it, and Sam and the others had only shut the door; they had not locked it.

He arrived at the old mausoleum and stood before the doors. He pressed a hand against the grey marble door and willed it open. The fires of Hell lit his way as he slipped inside, shutting the door before any others could escape. 

"So where did Gabriel say he was going again?"

Josie asked as she refilled the fruit tray for Maria. Castiel sat in the kitchen peeling potatoes for dinner.

"He did not say; simply that he had an errand to run." He said, flicking potato peels into the compost bin.  
Sam sat in the corner drawings sigils on shrinky dink paper to be baked in the oven. He had hit upon the idea to make lasting sigils that couldn't be wiped away. Dean was at the counter chopping vegetables for the stir fry they were having for dinner. 

Maria sat on the couch in the other room looking at baby names from a dusty tome Castiel conjured for her. It was a quiet, domestic evening.

This atmosphere was broken when a soot covered Gabriel popped into existence next to the island towing a tall, dirty, shell shocked teenager. 

Sam was the first to react to the strangeness.

"Adam?!?" He choked out incredulously. Sam stood and came to embrace the filthy teen. Gabriel stepped back to give him the room.

"Sam?" He asked tremulously, reaching up to wrap his arm around the taller man. He hooked his chin into Sam's shoulder and whimpered quietly. 

"Adam?" Dean asked, breaking out of his reverie by the cutting board to come stand next to the two men embracing. He put a hand on the younger man's shoulder.

The blond teen turned his head towards him and cried out "Dean!"

This prompted Dean to throw his arms the other two and pull them in close.

Gabriel went to stand by Castiel, who gently nudged his side from his seat. 

Maria was watching the chaos from over the back of the couch as Josie stared from her seat at the table with her knife poised mid slice. She turned to Gabriel and asked in a puzzled stage whisper "Who's that?"She

Gabriel smiled and clicked his fingers to clean himself off.

"That's Adam. He's their half brother. I promised you three wise guys, so I figured I'd go to the source."

"Ah," Josie said with a small nod, still peering incredulously at the three brothers. "Why is he so dirty?"

"Oh, because he was in Hell." Gabriel said in a blithe tone. "All the fire and smoke makes it really sooty down there. Plus, I had to stick him back in his body after I rescued his soul, which had been buried. So you know, dirt everywhere." He said shrugging.

"Hell? Are you sure he should be around Maria and the baby if he was in Hell?" she asked hesitantly.

"Oh yeah, the kid's fine. He got trapped down there because Michael decided to wear him - I mean, use him as a vessel to walk the earth." He correctly hastily at Josie's appalled look. "So when the apocalypse for stopped, he got stuck down there too when Michael was cast down."

"Sounds fine to me!" Maria called from the living room when Josie still sat frozen. 

Maria heaved herself up from the couch and picked her way into the kitchen, snagging a few slices of pineapple as she went. "I'm Maria." She said, sticking the pineapple in her mouth and holding out her hand.He

"Adam." He said shakily, pumping her hand up and down. His smile grew larger and he looked less desperate.

"C'mon kid. Let's get you cleaned up." Dean said, pulling away from the group hug. Adam left his big brothers' embrace and followed Dean as he trooped up the stairs to the main bathroom. Maria followed at a sedate pace to grab towels for him from the linen closet. 

Josie got up and continued chopping vegetables for dinner. Castiel continued with the potatoes. Sam stood in the center of the kitchen for a minute, seeming unsure of what to do with himself. Her eventually rubbed his hands on his pants and then sat back down at the table to continue sketching. Gabriel sat next to him and propped his suddenly socked feet on an empty chair and pulled out a huge candy cane to enjoy. After he had whittled it down some, he turned his head towards Sam.

"Go ahead, Moose. Ask away about the most daring rescue of the decade."

"It's 2017, Gabriel. More could happen." Castiel interjected. Gabriel ignored it. Sam ignored it too.

"How'd you do it, Gabriel?" Sam asked simply.

Gabriel grinned. "Well, I opened the gates and walked in." He said rubbing his hands together. "From there is was easier than I thought it was going to be." He confessed. "You see, when Death went down to get your soul from the cage, he marked a trail. I'm guessing so he could find his way back easily while he was carrying your giant moose butt." 

Gabriel and Sam shared a quick laugh. 

"After that," Gabriel continued, wiping at his eye, "I popped open the cage, bitched out my big brothers, grabbed Adam, and left." He finished with a shrug.

"You're amazing Gabriel." Sam said with soft eyes and a voice full of awe.

"I am amazing." He said in a demur voice. Sam snorted. 

About half an hour later, Adam emerged, scrubbed clean and pink from the steam. He was in a blue fuzzy bathrobe with a white towel on his head. He looked content. 

Gabriel got an idea. 

"Oh girls!" He singsonged to Josie and Maria. "I've got something to show you!"

A moment later, both of them came into the kitchen with puzzled expressions.

"What's up, Gabriel?" Maria asked, reaching to hold Josie's hand. Josie squeezed back.

"Here." Gabriel said clicking his fingers. Suddenly all three Winchester brothers were dressed in jewel tones bathrobes, fluffy slippers shaped like camels, and Burger King crowns on their heads. "Now they look like wise guys!"

The two young women burst into peals of laughter and leaned against each other for support. Ana and Joaquin rushed in from the backyard, having heard the laughter from the open window. They too started laughing. Sam rolled his eyes while Dean grumped. Adam just sort of look bemused by the cheer around him. 

"I don't think this is right Gabriel." Cas said gravely from his stool by the compost where he had been reading. 

"Thank you, Cas!" Dean said triumphantly, raising an open flat palm towards him.

"They would be wearing far more gilt, especially around their waists if they were the Magi." He continued.

"Cas!" Dean whined.

"It's true, Dean. They would not have been able to keep their robes on if they didn't have a proper belt." Castiel said mock seriously, trying, and failing to suppress a smile.

Dean just groaned.

Gabriel laughed more and snapped his fingers. The boys now wore gold curtain tiebacks around their waists. This prompted another round of howling laughter, this time Sam and Adam joining in. Dean still stood looking grumpy, unmoved.

"Come on, Dean." Sam said bumping shoulders with his older brother. Dean turned a corner of his mouth down and scowled. 

"Well," he said reaching up to tilt his paper crown to a jaunty angle, "I'm the oldest, so I'm the head Magi." He said putting his hands into fists and placing them on his hips. 

The house was full of light and laughter and joy.

Chuck smiled down upon them and it was Good.

**Author's Note:**

> Here's the link to the Wiki about the Buffalo Headed Man. 
> 
> http://americangods.wikia.com/wiki/Buffalo
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
